God, she wanted him. Faye wished that he was somehow able to kiss her pussy and thrust his cock into her at the same time. She was desperate for all of him – to consume him, taste him, smell of him, be owned by him.
Despite the game they played, Faye knew that Rav was a terrifyingly large bull of a man, and his masculine virility turned her on intensely – knowing that he could pin her to the bed with his body, hold her down with one hand, take her whenever he wanted – and she would be powerless to resist. The fact that he chose to submit to her in the bedroom, to let her leash his power, made him even sexier; it showed Faye how much of a man he really was. She had never experienced a man that was more aroused by her pleasure than by his own, and she loved it.
‘Yes,’ she breathed, hardly able to speak. ‘Don’t stop until I say so.’
Faye met the coven at a pub at the edge of Hampstead Heath, and they walked up to the secluded grove on the heath together in an unruly, chatty line. By the time she’d found the pub (Ruby had texted:look for the one with all the hanging baskets), Faye was sweaty from hurrying and the group was ready to go, and there was no time for a getting-to-know-you chat.
From what she could tell, the group varied widely in age, occupation and outlook. There were six women, including herand Ruby, and four men: One was white-haired and bearded and wore an aged leather jacket with his biker gang acronym on the sleeve; he introduced himself as Simon. The others were younger. One, Duncan, was shaven headed with silver earrings to the top of his left ear, wearing black jeans and a hoodie. Another, Manu, looked like he’d come to the pub straight from the office; he was middle-aged, clean-cut, wearing a navy suit. He seemed quiet but well-liked in the group as they teased him about stocks and shares.
Faye smiled and listened as they walked up the grassy hill under the slowly setting sun. Two of the girls were probably in their early twenties and both were wearing jeans and flip flops; one had a short dyed blonde afro; silver bangles jangled on her wrists. The other girl had blonde hair in a long ponytail, a pink vest and a whole arm sleeve tattoo of pink and red roses entwined around her fair skin.
The last man in the group fell in step with Faye and Ruby.
‘Aren’t you going to introduce us, Ruby?’ He smiled a little wolfishly, but his voice was low, courteous and well-spoken. ‘I demand that I be made known to this delightful woman you’ve brought to our most august gathering.’ He had a twinkle in his eye that indicated his formality was more for fun rather than his usual way of speaking.
Faye found herself smiling back. ‘Faye Morgan. And you are?’
He took her hand and bowed a little.
‘Gabriel Black. A pleasure to meet you. Blessings of Mabon.’ Gabriel nodded politely.
‘Blessings to you,’ Faye replied.
‘Faye’s the one who has the shop in the Scottish village. You two have a lot in common. Gabriel runs an occult bookshop near the British Museum. Fortune’s.’
‘Oh, wow. That’s great.’ Faye shook Gabriel’s hand. ‘I’d love to visit it sometime. I love magic shops.’
‘Oh, me too. Just as well it was the family business.’ He chuckled. Faye liked him immediately.
‘Really? Mine too. My mum started it in the seventies, but the Morgans have been witches forever, as far as I know.’
‘Gosh. How delightful!’ Gabriel grinned at her. ‘We are the children of many generations of occultists and magical practitioners. Fortune’s was begun by my great-grandfather. He was a big part of the occult scene back in the day. The shop used to host meetings and all sorts downstairs.’
Ruby took a drink of water from the bottle she was holding as they walked. She looked confusedly at her other hand for a minute. ‘Oh, damn. I’ve left my scarf in the pub.’ She ran back down the hill waving. ‘I’ll be back in a minute! I’ll find you.’
Faye watched Ruby run off, feeling a little uncomfortable that the one person she knew had just run away. Still, she was keen to see what the night held.
Tonight, Annie was working and both of them were away from Abercolme. It felt strange to be distanced from their tradition. They usually celebrated the solstices and the equinoxes on Black Sands Beach, so when Ruby had followed up with more details about her group’s Mabon ritual, Faye was glad to have somewhere to go. She’d considered staying at home and doing some kind of ritual in Rav’s flat, but when she mentioned it to him cautiously, the look of confusion on his face made her change her mind. Clearly, a seasonal ritual didn’t fall within his definition of their new life together in London.
That gave Faye pause. She was a witch. It was a huge part of her life. Even though Rav had had a horrible experience in Murias, it didn’t mean that she was going to give up magic.
‘So, tell me about your shop.’ Gabriel adjusted a backpack on his shoulder and slid on a pair of expensive-looking blacksunglasses, even though the night was already well on its way. He was probably in his late thirties, Faye thought, with jet-black hair and deep brown eyes; the black shadow of a beard covered his jaw, but his skin was pale. He wore a white, fitted dress shirt with a subtle pleat on the middle section of the chest, with the sleeves rolled up to the elbows and dark-dye black jeans that fit his slim frame.
He was a little taller than her, though not by much, but there was something about him – an aura, a feeling of power. Faye was, by now, accustomed to sensing power in others; Gabriel wasn’t faerie, like Finn Beatha, but she felt a velvety blackness about him that was warm and a little wicked.
They walked on past a blue painted bandstand in the middle of the open heath which overlooked London. Two other women in the group – older women who she assumed were the coven leaders – walked along a path along the edge of the woodland. Dense forest lay at the edge of the long grass of the open field, where people still sat with drinks and picnics, or walked their dogs, enjoying the summer evening.
‘Well, it’s called Mistress of Magic. It’s my family home, has belonged to the Morgans for generations.’ Faye repeated what she’d told Ruby about the shop, what it sold, what Abercolme was like. Gabriel listened attentively.
‘Sounds divine,’ he said, lowering his sunglasses and looking over the top of them at her. ‘I imagine you have a lot of contact with the water elementals being that close to the sea up there?’ His gaze was penetrating but friendly; like Rav, his eyelashes were long and dark.
‘Yes, I…that’s right,’ Faye stammered and looked away. It was still a new experience for a stranger to mention magical things in conversation with her, as if they were talking about what they’d had for lunch or exchanging polite accounts of their summer holidays.
‘I’d like to hear more about that sometime,’ he said, his voice low and charming. ‘You’ll have to come and visit my place, see how it compares. I only sell books, though. Antiquarian, modern and second-hand. We’re the oldest occult specialist book shop in London.’
‘I will.’ She smiled.
They had reached the dirt path that led into the woods now, and Faye heard running footsteps behind them, the only sound in a stillness that seemed to emanate from the woods.
